This Christmas Martin Scorsese ventures through the looking glass into the world of light hearted comedy and happy endings. Lacking moral ambiguity and violent sociopaths, Scorsese still demonstrates his technical mastery of the art of filmmaking.

No De Niro and no DiCaprio, just Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a young boy who lives in the walls of a 1930s Parisian station and has a fixation with the mechanics of watch making. In the rafters of the station he is repairing an automaton that he and his late father had been working on. He is integrated perfectly with the world of machinery behind the clocks in the station, reflecting the detail that lies behind the film itself. The different themes and components of the story interlock perfectly as a finished piece, whilst the frequent images of cogs and springs show an intricacy behind the illusion. The automaton that, when working can even write, sums up the relationship between a film and its inner workings.

Hugo loves the movies, as they are representations of his dreams. When Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) and discovers her to be the adopted daughter of filmmaker George Melies (Ben Kingsley), the film becomes a profound homage to the history of cinema. Crucially, the First World War is a turning point in this history. After being confronted with a harsh reality, people no longer appreciated the whimsy of Melies’ films. However, this film is wonderfully dreamy and magical. The station is constantly filled with smoke and steam giving it an enchanting aura of mystery.

Evoking the wartime sense of being constantly under surveillance, the hilarious Sacha Baren Cohen plays the ever-present station inspector, who apprehends orphans. The themes of childhood and adulthood are omnipresent throughout the film, particularly in the portrayal of the divide between childhood innocence– depicted through the magical wonder of the first films– and the unforgiving adult world of brutal reality that followed the war.

Like the silent films it pays tribute to, the soundtrack dominates. Scorsese’s trademark camerawork is fantastic throughout and the combination of the music and the shots make the film truly spellbinding. The music guides the images, rising and falling to finally reach a harmonious cadence.